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Population Growth
Population Growth is an important characteristic of Cities in the game. It describes how fast (or slow) a Town is growing (or shrinking). It is listed in parentheses after the Town's current Population at the top of the City Screen. Population Growth is affected by several factors, the main one of which is the difference between the City's current-, and Maximum Population. Because of this, the most convenient way to increase Population Growth is often to increase the Maximum Population. Especially since the easiest ways to increase one (Town Buildings) will also increase the other. While a City cannot grow beyond a Population of 25 in any case, this cap has no effect on Population Growth. Instead, for calculations of growth, the game relies on the amount of available to a city. Population Growth is always expressed in multiples of 10 citizens, thus one can say its unit of measurement is 10 residents. Calculation There are two groups of factors that can affect Population Growth: direct factors, that add a fixed value or percentage (for example racial growth modifiers); and indirect factors, that change the circumstances on which Population Growth is based (such as the spell). There are also some factors that affect both, like the Granary Town Building, which provides both a direct increase to Population Growth, and an indirect effect by improving the Town's available supply. Maximum Population : The base value of Population Growth is determined by the difference between the current and the Maximum Population. The latter, in turn, is a function of the available to the City. This is mainly available on the surrounding tiles, or provided by Town Buildings and Wild Game, but can also be affected by certain spells, such as . As noted above, this value is not limited by the practical Maximum Population cap of 25. To determine the base Population Growth, the game takes the Maximum Population (without the cap), subtracts the current Population (every whole 1,000), adds 1, and then divides by 2. While this last division always rounds down, the previous addition of 1 effectively ensures that the total rounding is actually up. This means that as long as the Town has less than its Maximum Population, the base growth will always be a positive value. As noted above, Population Growth is expressed in multiples of 10, so a value of "1" will be displayed as "+10" on the City Screen. Racial Modifiers : Many of the game's Races have an inherent modifier to Population Growth in their Cities. While most of these are negative, Barbarian and Lizardman Settlements actually grow quicker than the average. Right clicking on the townsfolk on a City Screen (or a Race when starting a New Game) will bring up a pop-up that contains, - among other things, - the Population Growth modifier affecting that specific Race. These modifiers are also expressed in multiples of 10: Town Buildings Population Growth can be increased by two Town Buildings, both of which can be constructed by any Race, provided that the pre-requisite structures are already built. The Granary gives a direct bonus of +2 (+20 citizens per turn), and an indirect bonus of +1 (by increasing the Maximum Population by 2). It is cumulative with the benefits of the second building, the Farmers' Market. This, in turn, grants a direct bonus of +3 (+30 citizens per turn), while also increasing the City's Maximum Population by 3; resulting in an indirect Population Growth increase of +1.5, which yields a rounded value of either +1 or +2, depending on the base calculation above. Since both buildings are fairly cheap and can be constructed early in a Town's development, they provide a good way to offset any negative racial Population Growth modifiers. For Cities with a lower Maximum Population (e.g. 9-10), especially in the case of slow-growing Races, this can even mean the difference between growing and stagnating; and may be even more important in the mid- to late game, when the buildings can often be bought for as soon as the settlement becomes a Hamlet. Stream of Life : The spell has a profound effect on Population Growth. So long as the City has not yet reached its Maximum Population, all Population Growth is doubled by this Town Enchantment. Since both the effect of this spell, and the later modifiers discussed below, are multiplicative, they all affect each other with a similar magnitude, regardless of the order (in time) in which they are applied. Population Boom Population Boom is a random Event, that has a small chance of occuring at the start of every game turn, unless one is already ongoing. It always affects a random Town, and its effect on Population Growth is the same as that of : growth is doubled while the event lasts. Like many other random events, it does not have a fixed duration: rather, it has an increasing chance to end every turn after the 5th (but will always last at least 5 turns). Housing : Housing is a building project that can be selected in Cities instead of regular construction, or training units. It is listed at the top of the building list, along with Trade Goods. When started, the Town will carry on with this project until cancelled (even if it reaches its Maximum Population in the meantime). Building Housing applies a percentage-based bonus to Population Growth, that is a function of the ratio of citizens that are set as workers (i.e the more workers, the higher the bonus; the output of the Workers does not matter). It can be further enhanced by the presence of a Builders' Hall (+15%), and / or a Sawmill (+10%). The final bonus is thus always in the range of 0% (no workers, no buildings) to 125% (all citizens are workers, both buildings are present), which is then applied on top of all previous bonuses. Dark Rituals : is a beneficial Town Enchantment from the Realm that, instead of a regular Upkeep Cost, has some negative side effects as well. One of these is a 25% reduction in Population Growth, that is applied simultaneously with the Housing project (regardless of whether one is ongoing or not). These are the last factors (in order of execution) that affect Population Growth, and is the only one that has a direct adverse effect on it. Starvation Under certain circumstances, it is possible for a Town to become unable to produce enough to nourish its own population. This only happens if the City has a high amount of Rebels though, whereas this Unrest can be caused by bad Racial relationships, high Tax Rates, enemy spells like , or any combination of these. There's also a correlation between starvation and a low Maximum Population, or a Population that is near its maximum. In case of starvation, every citizen is forcibly assigned to Farmer duty (they cannot be changed from the City Screen), and the growth formula is replaced by -50 * (population size - produced food) Known Bugs Population Growth is flawed in the latest official game version in that if a Town is already above its Maximum Population, then the Growth is not set to 0. That is, if Town Buildings or other benefits yield a total positive growth despite the negative base value, then the Town can continue to grow even though it is already above the reported maximum. Growth is set to 0 if, and only if, the current population is exactly the same as the calculated maximum. This can be exploited by letting a Town reach its Maximum Population, and then using an effect that reduces this value, such as casting or on one of the tiles in the catchment area. If this reduces the limit, while there are other active effects that increase Population Growth, the Town will grow again, possibly even to the hardcoded maximum of 25,000 citizens. This oversight is corrected by the unofficial Insecticide patch. However, in doing so, another bug is introduced instead, that causes negative Population Growth to not be applied unless the City is still below its Maximum Population. This results in Towns with negative Growth to virtually never actually lose any citizens, as these conditions generally contradict each other during normal gameplay. This new bug is in turn fixed in the Unofficial Patch 1.50 (W220FIX.TXT). Category:Economy